Immigration Dbq Research Paper

During the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the United States experienced an influx of immigrants, largely increasing the diversity of religious and ethnic groups in the country. When Ellis Island opened in 1892 and Angel Island opened in 1910, many people from Europe and Asia, including the Chinese, Catholics, and Jews, were part of the third wave of immigrants to the United States. These immigrants were not always welcome in the United States. They were financially challenged and found it hard to assimilate with others and white Protestants. Although the United States is a very diverse nation today and the poem at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty welcomed them through a “golden door”, immigrants and new groups coming to the
One of these groups was the KKK, which was mentioned earlier. The KKK was a white supremacist group that was biased towards white Protestants and belligerent towards people of other religions and races. This group was proud about their thoughts for “aliens”, who, according to them, had no right to stay in the United States, and were feared by many for their violent thoughts and ideas (Doc. 1). Another group that was like the KKK, but not as extreme, was the APA. The APA was a secret agency that was formed to protect the United States by keeping Roman Catholics out of public positions (Doc. 8). Groups like this made it difficult for immigrants to live in peace and make a living. A cartoon exhibiting Uncle Sam, a symbol representing the Americans, showed the anti-immigrant sentiments showed how Americans were opposed to the idea of letting immigrants. The immigrant asking for entrance to the United States was a symbol representing all immigrants, who came from poverty, brought in diseases, wanted desegregation, and were of different religions. Uncle Sam was also plugging his nose, conveying how many Americans were disgusted with the immigrants. A pamphlet from 1885, that showed the open hatred towards immigrants in the United States, tried to convince American citizens to restrict immigration by saying “Protect yourself and your children against ruinous labor
Countless immigrants were hated for their race and ethnicity, and because of this, immigrants found it hard to